


Reactionary Findings

by callantry



Series: hopelessly gay abnormals [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Non-Binary Character, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Nonbinary Hange Zoë, Other, Post-Season/Series 02, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callantry/pseuds/callantry
Summary: Levi and Hanji have a conversation in Hanji's lab.(set immediately following the conversation with Erwin and Connie at the end of season 2)
Relationships: Hange Zoë/Levi
Series: hopelessly gay abnormals [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1867930
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	Reactionary Findings

Hanji noticed the second time Levi walked past the door of their laboratory. The first time, they assumed Levi was taking care of an errand. It was unusual to see Levi in the research labs, and Hanji had never seen him pace up and down the hallway like he was doing now. 

They cracked the door and stepped out. “Captain Levi?”

Levi stopped in his tracks. He turned, looking back at them. “Yes?”

“Care to talk?” Hanji asked.

Levi searched their expression for a moment. “Connie Springer still with you?”

Hanji shook their head. “No, he’s back with his peers in the 104th. I think I talked with him enough today.”

A hint of relief crept into Levi’s eyes. “And the state of your lab?”

“Clean enough,” they said. “Unless you would rather talk out here?”

The captain shook his head at their answer, but walked into Hanji’s lab anyway. Their counter space was covered in notebooks, some in unruly stacks, others opened. Loose papers sat under the wall sample, which had served its purpose and now functioned only as a paperweight. The wall of tools remained mostly in order, and the main lab table was only occupied with a microscope. Levi moved to sit at the table, putting as much distance between himself and the clutter as possible.

“It’s a wonder that this lab functions,” he said.

Hanji closed the lab door. “Levi.”

His back was to them. “What?” he said. “This organization is. . . unruly.”

Hanji walked around the table to face him. “What gives?”

Levi stared at them for a long time. “Are you seriously not rattled?” he said. “By this information? Not bothered at all?”

“We don’t have proof,” Hanji said. 

“That’s the official story,” Levi said. “But for you, speculation is never thrown out casually. So, despite you saying that, I am inclined to believe your intuition.”

Hanji’s shoulders sank. 

“Exactly,” Levi said. 

“Is it that hard to believe?” they said, removing their glasses. “I mean, first with Eren. And then Annie. It seems like we only discover more with each passing day. . . Ymir, Reiner, Bertolt.”

“Within our ranks!” Levi’s fist slammed onto the table. “Sorry,” he muttered as Hanji reached to protect their microscope. “That’s a different revelation. Humans turning out to be titans, when we knew– or thought we knew– them as humans first. Beings that exhibit some ability of control over shifting between their titan and human forms.”

“It’s upsetting,” Hanji said. “I am often. . . more fascinated than upset, usually. But it’s been a long time since I have found being upset to be useful.”

“You tell Eren that?” Levi asked.

Hanji shrugged. “I think Eren finds something useful in that.”

Levi scoffed.

“But that’s not what’s upsetting you presently.” It wasn’t a question. Hanji knew. 

“Erwin nearly died,” Levi said. 

That wasn’t it either. “But he didn’t,” Hanji said. 

“Do you understand?” Levi asked. “I haven’t been able to fight. I haven’t been able to leave this city. All I could do was wait for everyone to return. Troops from the Garrison and the Military Police left, and I had to stay behind. Do you understand?”

“You needed to heal.”

“Yes,” Levi said. His tone wasn’t quite bitter, but it wasn’t remorseful, either. Hanji couldn’t get a read on it. It had been a while since Levi had talked with them– like this, at least. “And then you all return, and Erwin is missing an arm. Because Eren was captured.”

“That’s not Eren’s fault,” Hanji said.

“Oh, it never is.” Levi’s gray eyes are furious, lit in a way Hanji hasn’t seen in decades. “Of course, we didn’t know the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan were in our own ranks. Silly, maybe. But maybe not, since we knew of two titans in the 104th prior to learning all of that.”

Hanji wasn’t sure what Levi’s aim was here, but they decided to let him lead the way rather than try to prompt him. They watched him pick up their glasses and start to clean them with a handkerchief. 

“It’s not enough,” Levi continued, “to have five of the 104th be titans.” He was wiping their glasses with slow, deliberate motions. “All titans are human. Every titan we have killed. Every titan I have killed– all of them. Human.” He met Hanji’s gaze again. “And after you and Connie left? Erwin said we’ve moved in a step towards the direction of truth.”

“We have,” Hanji said, though the statement came out sounding much less certain than they meant to say it. 

“Fascinating,” Levi muttered. More clearly, he added, “We’re fighting to save humanity. To keep these stupid walls in tact. Walls that have titans in them, apparently. Or that’s what I thought we were doing.”

“We’re still doing that,” Hanji said. “That’s still. . . none of it is in vain?”

“How can we know?” Levi spat. Hanji stepped back from the table. “Shit.” He set down their glasses, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m acting like Jaeger. Give me a moment.”

Hanji put one hand on his arm. “I’ll get some tea.” 

The moment that Hanji was gone, Levi put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples. He hadn’t let his temper show like that in a long time. Not in a way that he didn’t intend, that he didn’t have control over. It wasn’t as if he were in public– that would have been far worse– but Hanji didn’t deserve it. As he had told them, they were right, and they didn’t deserve his temper for it. 

But why did everyone seem so unperturbed? Everyone except for Connie, who was rightfully in a state of shock. Not that Levi would say any such thing to a young, green soldier. It all gets numbed in due time, he thought. The first few days after returning from an expedition beyond the walls, nothing would phase him. That must be what was happening. Stuck in the city, he would have the means to react to information. 

A knock came from the laboratory door. Levi opened it, and Hanji, a tray in hand, walked in. “I brought hot water and a few different teas that you like,” they said. “I wasn’t about to insult you by making it.”

“Thank you.” The words were barely audible. Hanji set the tray down, and Levi immediately went to work, opening each of the three teas and wafting before settling on one. 

“I wasn’t trying to get you to stop talking,” Hanji said. “So, please, if you have other thoughts, I want to hear them.”

They were being too kind to him, but Levi let himself talk. “With the report on Connie’s village,” the captain said, “I just wonder if that is humanity’s fate. That we just managed to outlast our titan counterparts by pure luck and circumstance. If there is anything to hope for beyond survival.”

Hanji remained quiet as the aroma of the steeping black tea filled the room. 

“Does Jaeger understand the paradoxes of his vengeance?” Levi wondered aloud.

“Do you?” Hanji asked. 

Levi turned his attention from his tea to them. “I suppose I am only just confronted with that,” he said. 

Hanji’s brows furrowed. “Not since we learned Eren is a titan?”

“Exceptions to a framework function differently when you’re not a titan,” he said. “Or so I assumed. Also, he’s young, and a bit of a brat. I understand that he is important, and must be protected, but he’s a new soldier. Not very good at following orders either.”

“You haven’t had a lot of people to talk to, have you?” Hanji asked. Even when Levi was in a talkative mood, he wasn’t as wordy as this. 

The barest hint of a smile creased the captain’s face. “No,” Levi said. “Unless you count the local Military Police.”

“No,” Hanji agreed. 

“Hanji,” Levi said after he poured himself a cup of tea. “I don’t know if I can think about the loss of life the same way anymore. I don’t know. . . it’s not making sense.”

Hanji glanced away from Levi, thinking. Slowly, they said, “We’re not fighting because we have a choice. The situation hasn’t changed all that much. We’re learning more, is all.” They stared at the ground for a moment longer, then lifted their gaze. “We’re still fighting because we have to. The information isn’t making titans any less hostile to us.”

Levi only sipped his tea and nodded.

“There is still so much we don’t know,” Hanji said. “And I believe– I have to believe– that the more we learn, the closer we get to understanding why everything is this way, what the titans are, how they function– that we can have a better future. Or, at the least, avoid one in which nothing changes.” They walked over to Levi, and put their hands on his shoulders. “We can’t do anything if we’re eaten by titans. We can’t let this hypothesis about titans allow us to falter at crucial moments. Do you understand, Captain?”

Levi looked at Hanji’s hands, and back to their face. A familiar determination resided in their eyes. “Yes,” he said. 

Hanji’s hands dropped from his shoulders. “Good,” they said. 

**Author's Note:**

> been hesitant to write these two, but they are my faves
> 
> (no beta reader, if there are errors lemme know!)


End file.
